Scanning electron microscope image of a human hair (black and white). • SIZE: Scale bar representes 20 µm • IMAGING TOOL: Table-top Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)
Nanoscale science and technology ("nano" for short) is all around us and growing rapidly. See how even chocolate has nano implications and how we are in fact nanosensors!
Scanning electron microscope image of a human hair (black and white). • SIZE: Scale bar representes 50 µm • IMAGING TOOL: Table-top Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)
This cart demo is about Biobarcodes, a nanomedical technology that allows for massively parallel testing for disease diagnosis. Visitors learn about antibodies, how each antibody binds to a unique protein, and how biobarcoding uses nanoparticles, antibodies, DNA and magnetism to...
In this activity, learners make an automaton, a moving mechanical device that imitates the movement of a human, animal, or other living thing. The activity is designed to prompt conversation and reflection about responsible innovation, inspired by themes raised in...
Scanning electron microscope image of a human hair (black and white). • SIZE: Scale bar representes 100 µm • IMAGING TOOL: Table-top Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)
Scanning electron microscope image of a human hair (black and white). • SIZE: Scale bar representes 10 µm • IMAGING TOOL: Table-top Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)
Visitors see how nanomaterials are able to form tiny structures called nanoscaffolds that help the body repair damaged muscle, bone, and nerve tissues. In the interactive, an injured nerve is unable to communicate messages. After injecting nanoparticles, visitors can watch...
This illustration shows the circulatory system across 10 orders of magnitude. Using the conventions of visual perspective the image travels in one continuous "landscape" from the human scale at the top to the atomic scale in the foreground. Placing objects...
In the "Horton Senses Something Small" story time program young visitors listen to the Dr. Seuss book "Horton Hears a Who". They look at small things using lenses and use their sense of smell to detect things that are too...
Scanning electron microscope image of a human hair (black and white). • SIZE: Scale bar representes 10 µm • IMAGING TOOL: Table-top Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)
In this episode of O Wow Moments featuring Mr. O from the Children’s Museum of Houston, we play a little game called "Guess That Smell!" where we explore how our sense of smell works. It turns out that we are...
New tools—like "CRISPR"—are making it possible to edit DNA with great precision. Soon, we will be able to accurately alter targeted sections of the genome of other animals and plants, as well as our own DNA. But should we? In...
As gene editing techniques become more refined, the possibility of editing the human genome is moving from science fiction to reality. In this forum, participants have a chance to discuss the future of human genome editing and important concerns for...
"Treating Tumors with Gold" presents promising research being conducted at Rice University in Texas. Through videos and demonstrations, the program considers the following questions: What is a tumor and what causes it to spread? What is a gold nanoshell and...
Scanning electron microscope image of a human hair (false color). • SIZE: Scale bar representes 20 µm • IMAGING TOOL: Table-top Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)
"Exploring Structures - DNA" is a hands-on activity in which visitors create a necklace of wheat germ DNA. They learn that self-assembly is a process by which molecules and cells form themselves into functional structures.
This interactive zoom, inspired by Eames "Powers of Ten," allows visitors to travel from the familiar scale of their hand down to DNA deep within a cell. This zoom is designed as a stand-alone visitor experience, or to be used...
"Making Molecular Movies with QSTORM" is a public presentation that details the on-going interdisciplinary research project of a group of scientists/engineers who are collaborating to make a breakthrough in biological imaging. They are trying to make movies of the molecular...
In this activity, learners make a voltaic pile, the first kind of battery. The activity is designed to prompt conversation and reflection about responsible innovation, inspired by themes raised in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein.
"DNA Nanotechnology" is a facilitated, hands-on activity exploring deoxyribonucleic acid, a nanoscale structure that occurs in nature. Visitors extract a sample of DNA from split peas and put it in an Eppendorf tube to take home. They learn that nanoscientists...
This is an optical microscope image of a human venule—a tiny blood vessel. A venule is tiny blood vessel that connects capillaries—where the blood exchanges the oxygen it carries for carbon dioxide—to larger veins leading back to the heart. •...
Students will discover how many millions of signals their bodies give off every day, and how scientists are using those signals to build a new form of nano-medicine called "lab-on-a-chip" that could be used in the near future to diagnose...